The 3rd party components site |
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The 3rd party components site |
Jul 3 2008, 21:19
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#1
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 159 Joined: 12-January 02 Member No.: 992 |
Hi folks,
Decided to create a topic for the 3rd party components site for discussion regarding the site. Later this year the site will be 5 years old, so I guess it's about time. What site, and why? The site is for hosting information and files for third-party foobar2000 components. The basic idea is that component authors would register, add their own components, and keep the data up to date. The site supports so-called moderators, too - active users who help by adding new components and editing existing ones to keep the data valid. In the last 30 days, the site has had ~25k visits from unique IP addresses and a total of over 466k pages/items accessed (counting all images etc. separately). So, there is continual activity even though some of the information is quite out of date. Normal users can sign up and subscribe for component updates. Consequently, if that component gets updated, the user will be notified by e-mail. The interval of e-mails can be defined, so there won't be an onslaught of spam. Additionally, one can select to receive notifications from completely new components added to the site. There was once talk about central repository that would support a component auto-updater. The component never arrived, but if someone would like to make one, the site will definitely support that. In fact, it's still generating applicable data files. Discussion and the future of the site Recently Fifoxtasy volunteered to update some of the components, there has been quite many updates (and improvement suggestions One thing that has crossed my mind every now and then - should the site have an easier domain name? I guess they don't cost that much, if I only came up with some remotely good one... Some kind of a todo list of features that should be added sooner or later.
This post has been edited by amppa: Jul 13 2008, 22:22 |
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Jul 4 2008, 00:02
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#2
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 202 Joined: 14-June 05 Member No.: 22717 |
Hi amppa
i'm glad you found the time is right to create a thread for your site. you need to change the link on your main page to direct to this tread now. QUOTE Well, say, a component may have versions for 0.8 and 0.9. The versions may have different functionality, so that one version supersedes a component and another does not. This may be a bit far-fetched, though? Wonder if it would be enough if a component would simply supersede another component... i would say that one component simply supersedes another. it would be quite unlikely to happen. if let's say the new version brings those new features. who is going to use the old one? are we going to keep every old version? no we try to keep everything up to date. so i think it would be a lot less complicated and easier to manage, if a component either supersedes or doesn't. QUOTE Recently Fifoxtasy volunteered to update some of the components, there has been quite many updates (and improvement suggestions) since then. However, there's too much to do for just a couple of active people (and people will predominantly update only the components they're using anyway), so it would naturally be best if component authors themselves would be active. I can't say if there is any way to attract developers, though, I guess they just have to find the service to be useful enough. a thing i'd like to say is that even though it is true what amppa says: it would be best if the component creators keep their components up to date on the site. i don't think ALL of them will ever do it, so there will always be a need for moderators. right now i think there is even a great need for more moderators and i'd like to encourage the people to contribute to the site. it's not that much work - if you stumble upon a new version, you update that entry in the database. done, takes you a minute and you helped everybody else who uses that component. if they subscribed to it, they will get notifications - no need to periodically check for updates in 20 different threads for all the components you use. if one day that updater component will be developed, it will get even easier. |
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Jul 4 2008, 02:58
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#3
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 1190 Joined: 12-January 06 From: Cambridge, MA Member No.: 27052 |
QUOTE should the site have an easier domain name? I agree really strongly with this one; I know that I personally have never been able to remember the address of the site, and had to either use bookmarks (when on my own computer) or google (when on a different computer). A more unorthodox domain would go a long way. Another thought; maybe you could be linked through the official site? Other Comments
EDIT: added comment about displaying latest version, and beta version. This post has been edited by kanak: Jul 4 2008, 06:21 |
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Jul 4 2008, 03:23
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#4
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 90 Joined: 11-March 04 From: The Forest Member No.: 12650 |
It would be nice if all 3rd party developers used this site. Its hard to track down some of the less common plugins sometimes. If it was updated i could see it being an excellent resource
This post has been edited by TedFromAccounting: Jul 4 2008, 03:24 |
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Jul 4 2008, 08:09
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#5
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 202 Joined: 14-June 05 Member No.: 22717 |
One thing that has crossed my mind every now and then - should the site have an easier domain name? I guess they don't cost that much, if I only came up with some remotely good one... components.foobar2000.org if peter and his team agrees to use that domain... if not maybe something like: www.foo_components/fooponents/fooplugins/fooplugs/foobar2000-components.... :/ i dunno, can't come up with the perfect name either... Another thought; maybe you could be linked through the official site? you're right, just what i was thinking. whatever domain name is chosen, it would be great to have a link from the official site to the 3rd party components site. [*] Display latest version of component when viewing its description. This would make updating the entries much easier. (I realize that the version is shown when "download" is clicked, but i think making it more obvious will help. [*] In a similar note, would it help to have a "latest version (Beta)" type description so we can link to beta/alpha versions? This would be particularly for foo_dop and Column UI whose alphas/betas are really stable, but have an older 'stable' version linked too. i didn't add the 0.2 (stable) link to columns UI because on musicmusic's site he says QUOTE Obsolete. Not recommended for use with foobar2000 0.9.5. but it would be possible of course: see Scheduler for example, you got download links to two different versions. the version is displayed right next to the download link. good job on your updates kanak! |
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Jul 4 2008, 10:10
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#6
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 591 Joined: 3-May 05 From: Dijon, France Member No.: 21852 |
Hi
First of all, I'm really very happy to see that your website is alive again. For me, as you said, you have to attract first the plugin developers. And to attract them, there is no other way than giving them "services". A few weeks ago, I thought abut a similar website (as I thought your website was abandoned) I started to create a mindmap to know what information could be interesting: http://eolindel.free.fr/images/plugindb/Plugin%20DB.html (a little part is in french, but it is quite understandable I think) Quite a lot of information is listed there and obviously it would lack for a lot of plugins, but each information is relevant. It would turn your website into a little sourceforge platform for fobar2000. But it would also require a lot of time to create such a thing On the other hand, developers would see that it's also in their interest to use such a platform to make their plugins popular.. As for the moment, it's quite a jungle and nearly all developers let away the documentation/presentation part away.. To me, the website would also require a little relifting : You always are on a very long page listing components with a quite extended description while on this page: http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?ti...:Components_0.9 the information is quite short and sufficient to describe the plugin and really less confusing than it is currently on your website. For me, a table listing components with a small description as on the wiki would be enough. And then have a link on the plugin name to have the level of description that you already have. I would also separate more clearly what is for 0.9 and other versions. (with sub websites) to less confuse visitors at the beginning, it makes things more difficult for the moment. A lot of "I would" "It would be nice to" post, but the project is really interesting !! If you need more ideas etc.. I'm willing to detail some ideas or give other ones Good luck guys !! P.S. BTW, I will point to your website on the latest version of my manual which I'm currently rebuilding. (and probably give to your website a nice place in the step by step tutorial to help newcomers) This post has been edited by Bachi-Bouzouk: Jul 4 2008, 13:41 -------------------- Foobar 0.9.X manual - http://eolindel.free.fr/foobar0.9/
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Jul 4 2008, 13:24
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#7
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Group: Members Posts: 238 Joined: 19-March 07 Member No.: 41623 |
A neat addition would be to have a plugin which would check the components on your computer and then show you links to whichever new components available. Great site, by the way.
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Jul 4 2008, 14:30
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#8
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 506 Joined: 24-November 06 Member No.: 38011 |
QUOTE Wow.. I used foobar for years and never saw this site before.. BTW.. @kanak Direct download link for Channel spectrum panel and EL playlist doesn't work. (403 forbidden) |
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Jul 4 2008, 15:37
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#9
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 202 Joined: 14-June 05 Member No.: 22717 |
QUOTE Wow.. I used foobar for years and never saw this site before.. reminds me of good old times, when i learned how to use the title formatting strings. that site helped a lot. i still did not become an expert, though |
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Jul 4 2008, 16:39
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#10
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![]() Group: Super Moderator Posts: 2736 Joined: 26-July 02 Member No.: 2796 |
QUOTE should the site have an easier domain name? You mean http://fb2k.org isn't easy enough for you guys? Yes, that was a renegade domain name registry by yours truly... Might as well point it at the components site. -------------------- an aliencat ate my dog
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Jul 4 2008, 17:35
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#11
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 1190 Joined: 12-January 06 From: Cambridge, MA Member No.: 27052 |
good job on your updates kanak! Thank you. I have some more feature requests
P.S. BTW, I will point to your website on the latest version of my manual which I'm currently rebuilding. (and probably give to your website a nice place in the step by step tutorial to help newcomers) Hmm... once bachi has his guide complete, we could add a link to the component-specific guide on his page. It would definitely be helpful for the new users. Direct download link for Channel spectrum panel and EL playlist doesn't work. (403 forbidden) Thanks for the report. I've removed the links; you now need to go to the official site to get it. Wow! Thank you so much. No more googling for me This post has been edited by kanak: Jul 4 2008, 17:39 |
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Jul 5 2008, 14:47
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#12
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 24 Joined: 25-June 08 From: the dark side Member No.: 54856 |
Hi amppa
I recently thought that it would be great to have an easy and fast way to update my foobar components. I know your site but it felt always pretty outdated, i really, really hope it will become more popular as the primary source of foobar components. Maybe i can contribute a bit... I was taking a look at the data feed the site provides and thought i could look into making an updater application for foobar. I said application because i'm not into foobar components and it would be much easier and faster for me to develop a stand alone application for that purpose. Of course the app would be as interoperable and as "silenced" as possible. That means that there wouldn't be the need to launch the app separately or other major annoyances. I don't think that having a stand alone app as updater would be an issue, but please correct me if i'm wrong. In case that would be acceptable and interest you please feel free to contact me either here on the forums or by mail @ rain.net#gmail.com Good luck with you project -------------------- fooPDate is coming to town!
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Jul 5 2008, 16:11
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#13
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 202 Joined: 14-June 05 Member No.: 22717 |
You mean http://fb2k.org isn't easy enough for you guys? Yes, that was a renegade domain name registry by yours truly... Might as well point it at the components site. awesome amppa: concerning the admin message and locked components now on the user page components both locked and those containing a admin message are displayed in a list. i think you should create two separate lists, or maybe only locked components. maybe we are misusing the admin message? take a look at them, we used them for all kinds of messages. see EL playlist for example. there are some components with messages like that. when should we use the admin comment? if it should be used for all kinds of info that don't really fit into the description, i think components with admin comments shouldn't be displayed in the banned components list. |
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Jul 5 2008, 17:10
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#14
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![]() Group: FB2K Moderator (Donating) Posts: 3962 Joined: 24-February 03 Member No.: 5153 |
I don't think that having a stand alone app as updater would be an issue, but please correct me if i'm wrong. In fact, some thing should be easier in a stand-alone application than they would be in a component. Just think of actually replacing component DLLs.
-------------------- http://foosion.foobar2000.org/ - my components for foobar2000
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Jul 5 2008, 20:47
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#15
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 24 Joined: 25-June 08 From: the dark side Member No.: 54856 |
You're right foosion, but when i said "issue" i meant to the users. I know many who prefer such a function to be part of the actual software instead of having to deal with another piece of software.
Obviously i would try to make it as easy and as non-intrusive as possible. -------------------- fooPDate is coming to town!
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Jul 5 2008, 21:01
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#16
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 202 Joined: 14-June 05 Member No.: 22717 |
I was taking a look at the data feed the site provides and thought i could look into making an updater application for foobar. I said application because i'm not into foobar components and it would be much easier and faster for me to develop a stand alone application for that purpose. Of course the app would be as interoperable and as "silenced" as possible. That means that there wouldn't be the need to launch the app separately or other major annoyances. I don't think that having a stand alone app as updater would be an issue, but please correct me if i'm wrong. as i don't have any programming skills, i have no idea what would be best to update the components, but i just wanted to say that it would be great if you could develop such a thing! i think it wouldn't really matter to a user if it was an external app, if it would be easy to set up with foo_run. but i might say that maybe a component would be more "fool proof", but hey, this is foobar2000 not windows media player! |
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Jul 5 2008, 21:08
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#17
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 159 Joined: 12-January 02 Member No.: 992 |
i would say that one component simply supersedes another. it would be quite unlikely to happen. if let's say the new version brings those new features. who is going to use the old one? are we going to keep every old version? no we try to keep everything up to date. so i think it would be a lot less complicated and easier to manage, if a component either supersedes or doesn't. Yeah, I guess it would be the most convenient way. Maybe I'll change it to work like this, it's always possible to change back if the new way is not so good. concerning the admin message and locked components now on the user page components both locked and those containing a admin message are displayed in a list. i think you should create two separate lists, or maybe only locked components. maybe we are misusing the admin message? take a look at them, we used them for all kinds of messages. see EL playlist for example. there are some components with messages like that. when should we use the admin comment? if it should be used for all kinds of info that don't really fit into the description, i think components with admin comments shouldn't be displayed in the banned components list. I listed also the components that have an admin message because I thought it would mostly be used to add warnings that a component may cause unstability. I think your way to use the field is fine, though. Perhaps I'll split the list to two parts, "locked" and "not locked but contains a message". |
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Jul 5 2008, 21:14
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#18
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 202 Joined: 14-June 05 Member No.: 22717 |
Yeah, I guess it would be the most convenient way. Maybe I'll change it to work like this, it's always possible to change back if the new way is not so good. nice! I listed also the components that have an admin message because I thought it would mostly be used to add warnings that a component may cause unstability. I think your way to use the field is fine, though. Perhaps I'll split the list to two parts, "locked" and "not locked but contains a message". great! |
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Jul 5 2008, 21:19
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#19
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![]() Group: Super Moderator Posts: 2736 Joined: 26-July 02 Member No.: 2796 |
I'd love an RSS feed for the recently changed components page...
-------------------- an aliencat ate my dog
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Jul 5 2008, 22:02
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#20
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 24 Joined: 25-June 08 From: the dark side Member No.: 54856 |
Exactly what i was thinking Fifoxtasy.
But i wouldn't try to make some sort of interface with foo_run or such things. This would be an application on it's own, my idea is something like this: Single executable file to be placed in you foobar directory which acts like a "launcher". That means instead of launching foobar you launch that exe which then checkes you components and foobar core exe for newer stuff online. When you launch said application you don't notice anything, foobar will be launched by this app while it checks your components. This way, if no new components are available you don't have to wait for the updater to finish checking and can start listening music right away. In case the updater finds new stuff several different things could be possible: 1 - You get notified. 2 - Components are downloaded automatically (you don't necessarily see this, just if you wish to). 3 - If you are paranoid If you choose to automatically install components foobar needs to be closed, again: 1 - This could happen automatically (restarting foobar automatically afterward). 2 - Or at next foobar startup (so you can finish to listen to your songs). The only thing that would be visible would be the notification of updated components once in a while. No need to setup anything, by default updater would check once a day for updates, and these kind of things could be configured through an options screen. The only thing that could be "difficult" for the end user would be setting up the shortcut, but even that could be managed with an installer -------------------- fooPDate is coming to town!
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Jul 5 2008, 22:03
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#21
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 159 Joined: 12-January 02 Member No.: 992 |
Thank you. I have some more feature requests
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Jul 5 2008, 22:28
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#22
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 159 Joined: 12-January 02 Member No.: 992 |
A few weeks ago, I thought abut a similar website (as I thought your website was abandoned) I started to create a mindmap to know what information could be interesting: http://eolindel.free.fr/images/plugindb/Plugin%20DB.html (a little part is in french, but it is quite understandable I think) Quite a lot of information is listed there and obviously it would lack for a lot of plugins, but each information is relevant. It would turn your website into a little sourceforge platform for fobar2000. But it would also require a lot of time to create such a thing On the other hand, developers would see that it's also in their interest to use such a platform to make their plugins popular.. As for the moment, it's quite a jungle and nearly all developers let away the documentation/presentation part away.. To me, the website would also require a little relifting : You always are on a very long page listing components with a quite extended description while on this page: http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?ti...:Components_0.9 the information is quite short and sufficient to describe the plugin and really less confusing than it is currently on your website. For me, a table listing components with a small description as on the wiki would be enough. And then have a link on the plugin name to have the level of description that you already have. I would also separate more clearly what is for 0.9 and other versions. (with sub websites) to less confuse visitors at the beginning, it makes things more difficult for the moment. The site has never died, may have been just a bit quiet every now and then The list of plugins in the wiki style could surely be done. Either I could add a field for a short description, or it could just use the first sentence of the plugin's current description. Or maybe both: a possibility to add the short one, and if there isn't one, the first sentence would be taken. The sub-sites for different versions may be a good idea, too. I'll have to think about that if I make that compact list of components. I guess the filtering is suboptimal: after all, users are looking components for their current foobar version, so there isn't any need to list the wrong versions even if they are minimized as they are now. Thanks for comments! |
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Jul 5 2008, 22:51
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#23
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 202 Joined: 14-June 05 Member No.: 22717 |
Exactly what i was thinking Fifoxtasy. But i wouldn't try to make some sort of interface with foo_run or such things. This would be an application on it's own, my idea is something like this: Single executable file to be placed in you foobar directory which acts like a "launcher". That means instead of launching foobar you launch that exe which then checkes you components and foobar core exe for newer stuff online. maybe you could do both. so you can run it as a launcher or through foo_run. maybe people don't want to check every time they launch foobar. if that's not too complicated of course. you might want to take a look at miranda's updater plug-in. it works very well, and has to do about the same job. i think you can get the source code as well if that helps(?). it also let's you choose whether to use beta versions or not - might be a good idea as well. --- QUOTE ampa: QUOTE kanak: Allow filtering by 0.9.5... there is a sizable number of plugins that don't work well with 0.9.5.x onwards. This might be a bit problematic: most of the components that work in 0.9 work in 0.9.5, too. How they should be filtered?you could handle it like a new foobar version. like 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 0.9.5 but the 0.9.5 filter would have to include all 0.9 entries as well. but then we would have to change all the components which aren't compatible with 0.9.5, and maybe keep old version links for 0.9 users. i don't think this would be worth the hassle. users who upgrade their components also upgrade their foobar don't they? except for panels UI users. but is all that work worth it for a couple of users of a --- QUOTE amppa: The sub-sites for different versions may be a good idea, too. I'll have to think about that if I make that compact list of components. I guess the filtering is suboptimal: after all, users are looking components for their current foobar version, so there isn't any need to list the wrong versions even if they are minimized as they are now. i don't quite get the advantage of sub-sites over filtering. i think filtering is better, because you can list ALL versions or just the version you need. you set the filter to the version you want, done, you will now only see components that are available for your version. what's the problem? --- Edit: @r41n: what about the files, would they need to be on amppa's server or are direct links to servers ok? what about archives? would you need the .dll or are the rar, zip, 7z files that developers use ok? --- sorry panels UI is not banned, but it is disrecommended and listed as a potential troublemaker and have a look at this thread. This post has been edited by Fifoxtasy: Jul 5 2008, 23:08 |
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Jul 5 2008, 22:52
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#24
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 159 Joined: 12-January 02 Member No.: 992 |
I recently thought that it would be great to have an easy and fast way to update my foobar components. I know your site but it felt always pretty outdated, i really, really hope it will become more popular as the primary source of foobar components. Maybe i can contribute a bit... I was taking a look at the data feed the site provides and thought i could look into making an updater application for foobar. I said application because i'm not into foobar components and it would be much easier and faster for me to develop a stand alone application for that purpose. Of course the app would be as interoperable and as "silenced" as possible. That means that there wouldn't be the need to launch the app separately or other major annoyances. I don't think that having a stand alone app as updater would be an issue, but please correct me if i'm wrong. In case that would be acceptable and interest you please feel free to contact me either here on the forums or by mail @ rain.net#gmail.com Good luck with you project Sure, I'm all for it! if you're starting the project, I think it's ok to discuss the details in the forums, so other people can step in if bad ideas are introduced A couple of things that comes first to mind:
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Jul 5 2008, 23:40
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#25
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![]() Group: Members Posts: 24 Joined: 25-June 08 From: the dark side Member No.: 54856 |
Fifoxtasy maybe i wasn't clear enough...
The app would run every time you launch foobar through it, but that doesn't mean it actually checks every time. The app launches foobar for you so that you don't need to launch two separated applications (or remember yourself to check for updates). It will check for updates every 24 hours or maybe more(you can change that), so that means that if you might launch foobar several times during the day the app will check for updates only once in a while (just like any other update software). So usually it would shutdown right after starting foobar for you. It would be there just for 1 second, probably less. Only once in a while (when it's time to check for updates) the app would stay running longer to gather info on available updates. Practically that means you will have to deal with that app only once a day or less. Hi amppa, i'm happy you mentioned it, the data file format seems alright, but it would be nice to see what other data formats you could provide, like xml for example? Just to see which would be the easiest to parse Zip compression is great, as long as it is standard zip i'm fine. Are the components by chance all compressed using standard zip too? I really would like to avoid the need for several compression libraries (for auto-installation updates). Trust is an important matter which we should discuss better in a second moment. If i understand how your website works, pretty much everyone who is registered can update a component, right? On the other hand being an authors doesn't make you necessarily trustworthy... I could make it so that the user can choose which components are automatically updated and which not, but i'm not sure if that will help. Anyway, as i sad before, i will implement auto and manual download right from the start so ppl can choose to disable autoupdating and just get notified. I thought about the update period only briefly, first i thought once a day would be ok, but after thinking about it a bit i figure it's too much. I'm rather new to the foobar community, but concerning 3rd party components i feel like they don't get updated that often, i might be wrong though. But i don't think it's urgent to talk about update periods right now, these details can be changed easily later anyway. I'l start looking into it right now -------------------- fooPDate is coming to town!
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 6th September 2010 - 04:13 |